The Wildlife of Zebras on Scorched Earth
by cggriff
Summary: This is basically the tale that I wanted to be told after the night Olivia played Elliot's hooker in Wildlife. I'm just using other episodes as checkmarks in my story and you can probably tell which ones they are (: I'm not really good at summaries and this is my first story so please just give it a shot! E/O eventually. Rated T for now but probably will change soon. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey y'all! I haven't really planned this story out and I'm kind of just doing it on a whim so I don't exactly know where I'm going with it but it's generally what I wish would have happened after Olivia's played Elliot's hooker in Wildlife. I'll disclaim that I don't own any of the characters or anything, just the story line and I can't really say if I'm spoiling any episodes because I don't know exactly what I'm doing yet :D**

**P.S. This is my first story so bear with me!**

**The Wildlife of Zebras on Scorched Earth**

Hazy. Things were so hazy. After a few blinks and head shakes, things started to piece together for him.

Olivia coming to try and save him from Kathy's wrath, then playing hooker when Bushido and Tyborne came to visit.

_"She looked really good. I wonder if she wears black lace all the time..." he thought. "What the hell? I can't think about her like that. Kathy really would leave me if she ever found out."_

Then Bushido putting two slugs in his arm.

_"Damn, I guess that's how I ended up here."_

And finally, Olivia running over to his body, lying paralyzed on the cracked cement yelling frantically "Officer down on the corner of Clarence and Queens Avenue! I repeat,officer down! I need a bus!" and then a softer but more frantic "Elliot? Elliot, can you hear me? Elliot?"as she rubbed soft circles on his temple, softly pleading with him to stay awake.

_"Olivia... Olivia..."_ was all he could think about until his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

He turned his head to see his beautiful Olivia walking through the doorway.

_"My beautiful Olivia? What the hell am I thinking? What the hell did they give me?"_ he thought. _"I guess I should talk to her about this before I get myself into trouble."_

"You were supposed to duck." she said, with that cock-eyed smile he loved.

"And you were supposed to leave." Elliot answered.

"Well, when my partner hangs out with scumbags I like to hang around and see what happens."

_"Partner. Right, we're just partners. Maybe I should just forget about it; seems like she has."_ Elliot thought to himself.

"So, what's the plan?" he asked instead.

"Oh, our guys are giving Bushido a little visit as we speak."

It had been almost 6 months since they collared Bushido and Elliot was finally gaining back the full use of his left arm, meaning that he could finally go into the field and do his job without being told to take it easy.

He hated being told to take it easy.

He found the phrase so contradictive seeing how life was far from easy; at least his life was far from easy.

It didn't seem like life to him at all anymore. To him, it seemed more like monotonous routine.

Wake-up.  
Fight with Kathy.  
Go to work.  
Butt heads with Olivia about cases or suspects or theories.  
Spend fifteen minutes in the cribs with his head in his hands trying to get himself to stop thinking about the one thing he wants that he can't have.  
Work some more.  
Go home.  
Fight with Kathy.  
Go to sleep and dream of Olivia.

Repeat.

He was starting to lose perspective on the Olivia situation. He couldn't tell her what he was feeling. He was married for God's sake. She'd never take a married man; she was too moral for that. He should know better than to think his partner would ever reciprocate the feelings he had for her.

He decided for the moment that he was going crazy.

Silently insane.

Continuously battling the thoughts he tried so hard to get out of his head and losing every time he saw her face.

He tried to play it off to himself as a schoolboy crush, but even he couldn't fool himself.

_"I should of talked to her when I had the chance,"_ Elliot thought. _"She's killing me and doesn't even know it."_

It seemed that the Devil himself had been listening to Elliot's conversation with himself because before he could even finish his thought, in walked the drug he'd been longing to take.

The high he wanted to feel.

The sweet release he wanted to taste.

And the only thing he could do about it was stare.

"El...do I have something on my face or are you just enjoying the view?" Olivia said dryly, looking down at her paperwork.

Elliot saw that crooked little half smile that drove him wild grow on her face.

It took everything in him not to jump across the desk right then and release all the emotions he had built up the past six months months in a way so passionate she would melt right into his arms.

But he couldn't.

And he knew it.

So instead, he settled for: "Yeah, you've got a little bit of a milk mustache from the whipped cream on your coffee."

**So this is the first chapter! I think I'm kind of figuring out what I want to do with it now but I'm still not completely sure so please please please leave me some reviews and ideas because I would greatly appreciate it! And don't worry, I plan on y'all hearing from Olivia very soon so Elliot won't be in turmoil for long!**  
**I think some of you die-hards might know where I'm going with the title but hopefully I'll be able to surprise y'all a little! So anyways...review and tell me if you want more! Thanks y'all!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey y'all! I'm really sorry that its been so long since an update but I've had really bad writer's block and it's been a struggle. But, thanks to The Congressman (if you're looking for a really good E/O, check out his story "Prey"), I think I'm finally finding my inspiration again. This is just a little something to tide ya'll over until I figure out what it going to happen next. ***PLEASE REVIEW I NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET**

**This is going to pick up right where Chapter 1 left off.**

**I don't own anything and this is going to go for the rest of the chapters as well because I just don't feel like stating the obvious every damn chapter (:**

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Chapter 2

"You could have just said so, no need to creep me out with that longing gaze of yours."

"Where would the fun have been in just telling you?" Elliot said as he shuffled through the paperwork that cluttered his desk.

"Oh, so it was a longing gaze." Olivia couldn't help but smile thinking about the way he looked at her. Lately, the manner in which he did so had turned from something of a subconcious fixation to a look of need. She thought it odd, because Elliot Stabler was not one to need anyone or anything.

"What are you talking about?" Elliot asked her coolly, hoping that she wasn't catching on to his weekness for her.

"Longing gazes are usually something you would deny."

"I must have missed it. I didn't hear you say anything about a longing gaze." he said, fumbling with his computer, trying to focus on something other than the conversation she was trying to hold with him.

"Elliot Stabler missed something? Damn, I thought that was a flying pig I saw this morning but now I'm definitely sure." she said, eyebrows arched and lips curling as she stared straight at him waiting for a response.

She wondered why he'd been so on-edge with her these past few months. He wouldn't look her in the eye for very long, he'd been careful not to have any physical contact with her, and he kept staring at her when he thought she couldn't see him. "If only..." she thought. "but there's no point in getting your hopes up just to watch them crash and burn."

"Smartass."Elliot scoffed, still enthralled in his computer screen. He knew if he looked at her her radiating beauty would melt him into a puddle emotion onto the floor. His feelings for her were growing stronger by the hour and he was losing control of them.

"I can't keep doing this. I have to tell her. I have to tell somebody before I completley combust and it all comes out in the wrong place at the wrong time." he said to himself. "Or the hell I'm living in is just going to keep getting hotter."

The shrill of a telephone ringing cut the tension between the two like a knife and left Elliot thankful for a different distraction.

"Stabler. Yeah. Mmmhmm. Uh-huh. Okay, I'm on my way."

"Who was that?" Olivia asked.

"O'Halloran. Says he's got something for me at the lab about the Harrison case. You want to come?"

"Nah, I'd like to get this paper work done so I can have an actual lunch break today. I think I'll hang here."

"Alright, see ya later." Elliot said as he walked out of the squad room.

"Thank God." he muttered as he unlocked the driver's side door of the 2002 Ford Taurus and entered into traffic on his way to the lab.

* * *

_an hour later..._

Olivia had finally put the last of her DD5's that had previously consumed her desk into the filing cabinet and sat down to take a breath. As she leaned back in her slightly uncomfortble polyester desk chair and let out a sigh, she realized that her stomach was growling ferociously.

She took a look around the squad room wondering why Elliot wasn't back yet.

After scanning the room thoroughly, she picked up her Blackberry and pressed his speed dial number.

_ring, ring, ring_

"Hey, Liv!"

"Stuckey? Where is Elliot?"

"Oh, he stepped out for sushi with O'Halloran. Left his phone on the desk! Big dummy."

"Oh, okay..well how about the DNA?"

"Hasn't popped yet."

"Alright..tell El to call me when he gets back."

"Sure thing! Bye Liv!"

The phone line went dead, leaving Olivia accompanied by only a nagging feeling in her stomach that something was wrong.

* * *

Olivia was worried. For what reason, she didn't know.

"Elliot is having lunch with O'Halloran...he's fine. He's fine. But sushi? And Stuckey?" she thought.

Something just wasn't sitting right with her about the entire was so odd to her that she was being sidetracked by such a simple and normal thing. She just couldn't put her finger on it...

She'd spent the better part of an hour opening her desk drawer and grabbing her keys and purse then after a few seconds shoving them back in deciding that she was staying put.

"Benson, what are you doing?" Don Cragen's strong voice sounded from his office in the far side of the noticed a wild and worried look in her eye when she glanced his way.

"Going to lunch." she replied, as she grabbed her things out of her desk for the final time and turned, walking out of the squad room.

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**Hope you enjoyed it. Please review for my sake, they really are important to the writers. I like to know what ya'll are thinking so that I can incorporate your ideas into the story. They also give me an idea of whether anyone likes it or not b/c I don't really want to spend my time writing something that no one wants to read or will enjoy. I appreciate every review given and please keep them coming! Chap. 3 should not take as long as this one because I think I know what I'm doing now but I STILL WANT YOUR FEED BACK! Thank you kindly.**

**Much love,**  
**CG**


	3. Chapter 3

**Still trying to find my inspiration for this story but with the support of The (lovely) Congressman, I think I'm finding my way! Thanks for reading so far and I hope you will enjoy this chapter as well as the rest of the story!**

**(sorry it's been so long, I've been at war with myself over this story. Don't give up on me yet, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it)**

**This chapter is short but (fingers crossed) the next will be longer!**

* * *

Chapter 3

She walked into the lab and insantly felt a chill run up her back.

It was too quiet.

Eerily quiet.

There was always DNA that needed testing, blood that needed typing, fingerprints that needed matching, crimes that needed solving.

There was always movement in this lab.

Always.

At 12 o'clock in the afternoon or at midnight.

Always.

But, the air around her seemed stagnant, still.

Too still.

She suddenly felt panicked.

Her gut feeling had been confirmed that there was something extremely wrong with this situation.

She reached a shakey hand down to the holster on her right side and pulled out her 9mm, trying to aim it as steadily as she could in front of her.

Slowly, cautiously, she took a step forward into the dark corridor, the only light coming from the flashing technology that lined the shelves.

She saw light begin to flood in from the open space at the end of the hall and she noticed a form in the space, slumped over in a white chair with armrests; a look on his face equivilant to that of having seen his demise.

"Holy shit!" she thought.

"Elliot!" she yelled as she ran towards him.

"Liv, don't!" he yelled back.

The next few seconds seemed to last an eternity.

She wanted nothing more than to run to Elliot and stop the pain that was radiating from his face and the bloody slashes across chest, but the look of panic in his eyes caused her to stop herself from going any further.

Then she looked down for her eyes to met with a slain Ryan O'Halloran lying on the cold white tile floor, knife through his chest.

Then she heard a voice, cold as ice, suddenly ringing through her ears-

"Dont move Liv. I dont want to shoot you, but I will."


	4. Chapter 4

**If you've seen "Zebras" then you know what happens with the whole Stuckey/Olivia/Elliot situation. If you haven't, well, you need to watch it because Mariska Hargitay does some kick-ass acting and she had me convinced for a few seconds that the thing she did with Stuckey was real. Anywho, this chapter starts towards the end of the Stuckey/Olivia/Elliot situation. This isn't a word-for-word repetitiion of how it actually went down, I don't have access to the episode to watch it so the beginning of the chapter will be to the best of my memory and after the confrontation it will just be me taking liberties.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4

"Stuckey, wait. You know, when we finally get rid of him, I'm going to need a new partner..." Olivia said quietly and quite seductivley as she stepped towards the crazed CSU intern. She really didn't want to do this but it was the only thing she could think of under the circumstances.

She had always sensed Stuckey's little crush on her and now she was going to use it to her advantage.

"Really? You want me?" said Stuckey, stepping right into Olivia's trap.

"Absolutley-"

"Well what are we waiting for?" Stuckey interruppted, quickly making his way towards Elliot, overly eager to make his dream a reality.

"Wait, there's something I want him to see first..." Olivia purred, swaying towards Stuckey. Stuckey, staring doe-eyed at her, was in complete shock. He couldn't believe that two of the dreams he had wanted ever since he met her were coming true at the same time.

But Stuckey wasn't the only one who was shocked.

In the plastic chair, Elliot couldn't believe what was happening. He knew better than to think that she was doing anything more than trying to save his life, she was just acting.

And she was doing a damn good job.

Elliot couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight of Olivia pulling Stuckey close, shutting her eyes, and pressing her lips to his.

To Elliot, it seemed to last forever.

He was almost convinced that she had turned sides when she opened her eyes and stared right at him.

Elliot knew what he needed to do and he quickly kicked Stuckey between the legs as with all the strength he could ultimately doubling him over enough that Olivia could give him a good right hook and elbow to the chest.

As Stuckey fell to the ground, Elliot fell more in love with her.

She was everything he could ever want. She was beautiful, strong, caring, hard as nails with a heart of gold.

She was everything he could ever want and the only thing he couldn't have.

"Come on El, lets get you out of here," Olvia said warmly as she started untying him from the chair. Elliot, still in shock, could do nothing but follow her out of the computer lab and watch her, making sure that she was still here and still his.

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	5. Chapter 5

**Picking up where the last chapter left off.**

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Chapter 5

After Stuckey had been arrested, Elliot checked by the medics, and the scene processed by CSU, Olivia and Elliot headed out for their favorite Italian restaurant. By Cragen's order, they were not to come back to work until Monday or they'd be fired. With the events of the day, neither one was ready to face what happened but neither one was ready to leave the other so they decided on a quick lunch before they parted ways.

"Hell of day, huh?" said Elliot, looking at his menu.

"Saving your ass is hard work Stabler," Olivia said sarcastically as she turned to the young waiter and asked for a beer and a large glass of water.

"Little early to be hitting the bottle don't you think Benson?" Elliot said with a smile.

"After what I had to do today? I have to clean my mouth at somehow, be happy I'm not drinking vodka right now."

"I'll have the same," Elliot said to the waiter watching Olivia raise her eyebrows at him in question. "What? I can't let you drink alone."

"You know, I...I don't know what I would have done if something bad would have happened to you today. You are the only person in this world who knows me at all, the only one who understands me. I'd be lost without you..."

Olivia immediately regretted those words. She knew better than to put her feelings on the line like that. It was too heartfelt for Elliot, too...true for him. She couldn't let him know that he was the one man she was head over heels for; the reason why she hadn't settled down yet. The reason why she was pushing 45 with out a ring on her finger and a child in her arms. She couldn't let herself be happy with anyone else because she felt like she was betraying Elliot. And it was stupid, God it was stupid. She knew that it was but she just couldn't help herself. But instead of dwelling on the thought anymore, she did what she always did when she slipped up: follow with a sarcastic comment.

"As much as it kills me to say it, because it hurts admitting that you know. Don't let that go to your head you cocky son of a bitch because that could change at any minute." she finished, satisfied that she was saved from the tsunami of feelings that threatened to drown her.

Elliot, however, was ready to drown.

He was ready now, now more than ever. After the events of the day, almost losing her. The last picture in his head could have been her kissing that..._thing_.

But it wasn't. He was sitting across from this beautiful creature and everything in the world was right.

Except for the fact that in reality she wasn't his yet, and there was only one thing in his way...

He took one last swig of his beer before he set it down and started to grab his things.

"You're gonna take all of that to the bathroom with you? Are you PMS-ing Elliot?" Olivia said with a laugh.

"No, I'm going home. I just remembered there's something I have to do. I'll uh..I'll call you later, make it up to you. Bye Liv." Elliot replied as he rushed out of the door, got in his car as fast as he could and sped away.

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	6. Chapter 6

**The story is going to begin picking up here shortly, I promise! And another note, the rating may be bumped up in the near future...**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Olivia was floored.

Shocked.

Extremely confused.

She didn't think she had said anything that brazen to make him run for the hills.

Maybe she did.

She knew that eventually she'd run him off.

And he ran off with her appetite.

So she paid for her beer and set off for home not sure how she should feel.

She walked down the sidewalk towards her apartment taking in a big breath of the smoggy city air that would forever calm her.

The city reminded her so much of Elliot.

Sometimes it was loud and angry and she needed to get away from it but she just couldn't help herself. She couldn't help but miss the comfort and familiarity of the city she loved and she would always come back to it.

By the time she opened the door of her apartment, she realized just how tired she was. It was only 3:30 in the afternoon but, considering the events of the day, she thought she deserved to rest.

So, for the first time in a long time, Olivia fell onto her couch and fell quickly into a deep sleep.

Elliot was pulling on to his street in Queens when he realized that someone was following him.

'Great, after all of this today? God, I really don't need this.'

So, in attempt to shake the car, Elliot continued past his house and onto another street.

But instead of the little black Mercedes following him, it turned into his driveway.

'Oh you've got to be kidding me.'

Elliot pulled over and watched as a tall and slender man with salt-and-pepper hair wearing a black leather jacket, tight black jeans and patent leather motor boots get out of his car and walk right into his house.

'Damn it, Kathleen forgot to lock the door again. Perfect day, just perfect.'

Elliot quickly got out of his SUV, pulled his gun out, adn carefully jogged the 100 yards to his front door.

He quietly grabbed the handle and pushed open the door, looking around to see if the man had already taken anything but the foyer and living room looked the same as it did when he left that morning.

Elliot continued walking into the house, looking in every corner and every room along the way. By the time Elliot had reached the kitchen, he wondered if the man had dissapeared into thin air.

Nothing was gone downstairs, everything was in its place. Hell, even the safe hadn't been fudged with.

'What kind of burgular comes into a house and doesn't even touch anything?'

But then he heard something.

A 'boom, boom, boom' coming from somewhere upstairs. It sounded like someone was beating holes into the wall and they were not relenting.

Elliot ran up the stairs and identified that the sound was coming from he and Kathy's bedroom.

"Hands up!" Elliot yelled as he busted through the door, gun aimed and ready to fire.

For once in his life, Elliot was wrong.

Really, really wrong.

What he found in that bedroom was polar to what he thought he was walking into.

When Olivia finally woke up, it was one o'clock in the morning. She had been asleep for more than nine hours and that was more sleep than she could remember getting at one time in the last few months.

She felt rested, oddly. But it was her luck that she would feel rested at one o'clock in the morning.

She tried to turn over and go back to sleep but she couldn't. She was awake now and unfortunately, it was going to stay that way.

Olivia checked her phone hoping for a text from him but there was nothing but a reminder that she needed to get milk.

'Damn,' she thought. 'Just a text would have been nice.'

Olivia was barely able to finish her thought when she heard a weak knocking on her door.

'Who in the hell would be here now?' she thought as she walked to the door and looked through the peephole.

On the other side of her door stood as distraught looking Elliot Stabler. He looked like he had been crying quite recently and he was carrying a large duffel bag.

Olivia slowly unlocked the door wondering what had happened and how she was going to deal with this situation. She had never seen Elliot so upset in her life and she had no idea if she could make his situation any better.

"El, what happe-"

Elliot stepped in the door, dropping his duffel bag and cutting Olivia off with an earth-shattering kiss.

His lips and hers seem to interlock perfectly with each other and neither could get enough. Elliot's hand slipped to the small of Olivia's back as he pulled her as close as he could to him and to his suprise, she didn't protest.

Elliot was the first to break the kiss because he knew if he let this go any further that he might do something he would regret.

Goodness knows he wanted to take her. He wanted to have her mind, soul, and body but he just couldn't do it this way.

Not to her. She was too good and she deserved better.

He wasn't ready to let go of her though. The way her body felt pressed against his was more pleasuring than he ever thought possible.

So he laid his forehead on hers, looked into her eyes, and he let himself breakdown right infront of her because he could feel their connection.

Olivia couldn't find the words to tell him that she'd always be here, she'd always care too much, she'd always be his rock as he was hers.

Elliot read her like book, and he was finally ready to start writing their story together.

For a moment, everything was right in the world.

But dreams are always interrupted by the early morning light.

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